Keen European Gamers hoping to spend that extra little bit of cash and get their PS3's a few months early will be out of luck, according to Sony. Last week a British judge ruled that Taiwanese import/export firm Lik-Sang could not sell the Japanese version of Sony's handheld PSP in Europe.

Critics and fans alike are disappointed by Sony's approach, which is restricting fans, even if they are happy to pay a large premium for the new console, but Sony pointed out that this move is to protect consumers. "Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards", said a Sony spokesman. He pointed out that the Japanese or American PS3 models would not play older European-sold software for the first two PlayStations, would not play EU Blu-ray movies or DVDs, and would not be covered by a warranty.